


A Little Insurance

by galactic-pirates (stillsearching47)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 01:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9855521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/pseuds/galactic-pirates
Summary: Written forA Monthly Rumbelling: February. Set in the wish!World of6.10 - Wish You Were Here. A change has fallen over the land and only Rumplestiltskin can sense it - somebody has wished upon a genie. Intrigued as to the possibilities he sets out to investigate.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Belle has the dagger and Rumple takes it back.
> 
> This doesn’t contain any information from 6.11 *sticks fingers in ears and hums loudly* I like my happy endings and I make no apologies for the fluff. Enjoy!

Rumplestiltskin was the self-proclaimed most powerful practitioner of magic in the Enchanted Forest, and any other realm he’d visited. Seeing as he’d visited more realms than anyone else he’d ever known, bar Jefferson the portal-jumper who had facilitated said realm travelling, he was confident in saying he was the most powerful sorcerer around. It was sometimes annoying, especially when he wanted some alone time, but at times like this it was very useful.

It meant he was the first one to sense the ‘change’ that had fallen over the land. It was like a subtle blanket of magic, wispy and light, but insidious. The magic crept over the land giving everything a dream-like quality. Rumplestiltskin snorted, some fool had wished upon a genie and their true self was now repressed in the back of the mind of their ‘alternate self’. Genie magic was powerful, but not powerful enough to create an entire world.

Nobody ever understood the price of wishes, or the consequences.

All it took was a gesture of his hand, and in a swirl of smoke he was transported nearby to the source of the wish magic. Rumplestiltskin snorted as he looked upon the royal palace. Why was he not surprised? The number of deals he’d done with Snow White and her Prince ‘Charming’ over the years, he could easily believe that one of them in an alternate world had gone to a genie. He shook his head and transported back to the Dark Castle. For the moment there was nothing to be done. He had to wait until the person who made the wish woke up, only then could he insinuate himself into this little drama and satisfy his curiosity.

“Papa, papa!”

Rumplestiltskin laughed. It was a good job he didn’t allow anyone to approach the Dark Castle for deals anymore. If they saw what happened here, his reputation would be ruined forever. His daughter, his little Nadia, dashed into the entrance hall, sliding on the black and white tile. Her blue eyes sparkled, her chestnut curls had escaped their tie and were messily falling everywhere, and her smile was all but splitting her face. She was her mother in miniature. Giggling she ran behind him, breathless in her excitement.

“Hide me papa,” Nadia begged.

Heavier footsteps approached. “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, I’m coming to tickle your tum!” Gideon roared, as he leapt into the entrance hall, hands outstretched like they were claws. He straightened when he caught sight of his father, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. It was a common sight these days, now he was fourteen Gideon was suddenly embarrassed by almost everything. “Papa, have you seen Nadia?”

“No,” Rumplestiltskin lied, shaking his head.

Behind him, concealed by his leather clad legs, Nadia giggled. His lips twitched, and he could see similar amusement in Gideon’s expression. At five years old, Nadia hadn’t quite learned yet that just because she couldn’t see you, didn’t mean you couldn’t see or hear her. Deliberately Gideon stomped his feet as stepped to one side, to peer round the entrance hall. Nadia giggled again as Rumplestiltskin shuffled to keep her behind him.

“Well I can’t see her,” Gideon allowed.

“Here I am!” Nadia jumped out.

Gideon feigned shock and Rumplestiltskin coughed. It wasn’t often he recognized himself in his children, he found it far easier to spot their mother, but Gideon’s gasp just then was like looking in a mirror. Gideon’s eyes gleamed and Nadia shrieked, laughing and stumbling away back into the castle. With a bark of laughter Gideon gave chase. Rumplestiltskin followed them into the main hall, watching them run in circles, ducking and weaving in between the display pillars, before darting out a side door. It wasn’t often that they played well together, there was too big an age gap for that, but it was something he would never tire of watching.

Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. One of the many benefits of being a master sorcerer, was that he didn’t have to traipse all of the castle in search of his wife. He smirked, he should have guessed, she was in the library. He gestured with his hand, letting a crimson swirl of smoke engulf him once again. When it dissipated he was in the library, his eyes feasting on another sight of which he could never tire.

Belle was sitting at the wooden writing desk. There was a steaming cup of tea on the table next to her. He’d charmed the teapot and all the cups in the library to stay warm, as Belle was prone to getting engrossed in a book and letting the tea go cold. Stealthily he crept up behind her, a look of pure mischief on his face. Her hair was tied back today, curling around one side of her neck and her ear was calling to him.

“Hello Rumple,” Belle greeted, just as he bent down.

He huffed in annoyance. “I can’t sneak up on you anymore.”

Belle twisted and arched an eyebrow. “Perils of having children. I now have eyes in the back of my head.”

She stood up and wound her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss against the corner of his mouth. Rumplestiltskin shivered, feeling the spark of true love even from that small touch, and wrapped his arms around her.

“Your daughter has been driving me mad today,” Belle told him, moving a hand down to play with the buttons of his waistcoat.

“Why is she always _my_ daughter when that happens?” Rumplestiltskin mock whined, carefully digging his claws into Belle’s side. She wriggled, Nadia got her ticklishness from her mother. “I remember a maid with boundless curiosity and enough energy to poke her nose into everything in this castle.”

“If we’re talking about a bundle of energy, how about the imp that doesn’t need to sleep,” Belle teased back, jerking in his arms, trying to avoid his clever teasing fingers. “Rumple stop it.” She laughed.

“Hmm well I could be prepared to deal,” Rumplestiltskin said with fake thoughtfulness. “I’ll stop for a kiss.”

“You silly man,” Belle said fondly. “There’s no need to deal for what you can always have for free.”

*****

Two days later Rumplestiltskin froze in his workroom at the top of the North tower. There had been another pulse of genie magic, but not the awakening he had expected. Somebody else had joined the party, come to search for the person who had wished their life away. How unusual - how fascinating. The potion he was working on was easy enough to place in stasis, so with a wave of his hand he transported himself to where the new player had arrived.

Magic disguised his presence but he hid behind a tree anyway. Another quick tendril of magic ensured that he couldn’t be heard, as he couldn’t suppress his chortle of pure glee. The new arrival was the Queen - Regina. Even with a changed wardrobe and a shorter haircut, he would recognize his former protégé anywhere. He rubbed his hands together with anticipation, and practically skipped behind her - this was going to be good.

He saw Regina pause at the statue commemorating Queen Snow and King David’s victory over her. Regina’s look of amused disbelief matched his own. The truth, as always, was a little more complex. There had been no final battle, just the Dark One, taking care of business as usual. His plans for the dark curse had been close to completion, though it had taken a few years longer than he had thought. Regina had been something of a disappointment, and Emma was ten years told before she had started to fall into line. Then, utterly unexpectedly, Baelfire had returned to the Enchanted Forest on his own.

The seer had promised him that he would reunite with Bae, and Rumplestiltskin had been too frightened to dig deeper. He’d had no idea how Bae would survive the intervening centuries, he’d only known that he would. To discover he’d been on Neverland for almost the entire time, it had been soul-destroying. It was little wonder that Bae had still been so angry with him. Bae had been determined he wanted nothing to do with him, and with Belle’s unwavering support Rumplestiltskin had done what he had vowed never to do again - he’d let him go.

It hadn’t been difficult to orchestrate Bae being apprenticed as first a squire, and then a knight, at the royal palace. Queen Snow and King David owed him many favors, and knew better than to ask questions. It had been far more difficult to say and do nothing when Bae, and Princess Emma, had fallen in love and had a son. After Henry’s birth Bae had sought him out, and they had made peace, which had been just in time. Bae had been killed while on duty as a knight of the realm just a few months later.

Rumplestiltskin knew his rage had been something to behold, and it had reignited all the rumors of the terrible Dark One which had started to die off in recent years. In the distance he heard singing and he winced. Emma had _changed_ after Bae’s death, and her parents had encouraged it, coddling her and helping her remove the word ‘conflict’ from her vocabulary. There had been nothing he could do, Bae had never told them who his father was.

That was hardly going to be welcome news from the last remaining ‘scourge of the Enchanted Forest’, the Dark One they called upon when they needed something and loved to hate the rest of the time. So he had stayed away, and watched over his grandson at a distance. At least with Emma’s arrival in the forest the mystery of who had wished for a different life was solved. Now the only question remaining was why.

He idly watched the confrontation between Regina and the royal family, and that’s when he got his idea. It was risky but it would be by far the best way to insert himself into this little melodrama. With the banishment of the Evil Queen, it had been ages since he’d had some decent entertainment. Quickly he transported himself back to the Dark Castle and to Belle’s side. Belle rolled her eyes at him, having long since become accustomed to his unexpected appearances.

“Belle, sweetheart ...” Rumplestiltskin started.

“Uh oh I know that tone.” Belle sighed in pretend exasperation. She smiled. “What is it Rumple?” He held his hands palm upright and focused, with a swirl of crimson smoke his dagger appeared. Belle’s nostrils flared at the sight, and all trace of amusement fled. “Why is _that_ here?” she asked harshly. “That should _never_ leave the vault.”

“It’s just for a short time,” Rumplestiltskin said soothingly. “I need to pretend to be imprisoned. In the exceedingly unlikely event anything went wrong, this could summon me to freedom. Just a little insurance to make sure that fake imprisonment, can’t become real imprisonment.”

Belle folded her arms and glared at him. “Why do you need to pretend to be imprisoned?”

“It’s the quickest way to get what I need. Regina has never trusted me,” Rumplestiltskin explained evasively, sensing it would not be wise to say he just wanted a front row seat.

“Regina?” Belle said sharply. “I thought that she was ... _sleeping_?”

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. “She is, it’s not really her, well it is but not the Queen we know.” Belle frowned. “I’ll explain later?” he added hopefully, holding out his hands, urging her to take the dagger.

Belle huffed and took the dagger, shooting it a hate-filled glare. “Fine, but it better be good Rumple.”

“Thank you sweetheart,” Rumplestiltskin said quickly, waving his hand and disappearing before she could change her mind.

He reappeared in Regina’s dungeons. His protégés doppelganger was certain to come here, and he would be waiting for her when she arrived. He grimaced at the spark of fairy magic that remained on the bars. It had weakened over time and so his dagger should allow him exit, but it was the only thing that would. He had been wise to take the precaution because if he locked himself in, he wouldn’t be able to get out on his own.

A whoosh of magic told him that Regina had arrived. He heard her muttering furiously to herself under her breath. The word _‘Storybrooke’_ caught his attention, that might come in handy later. He did so love keeping her off balance.

*****

Whistling to himself Rumplestiltskin transported himself back to the Dark Castle, back to Belle’s side. She was in the sun room and a genuine smile crossed his face when he saw why. Gideon was tacking up three horses, more hindered than helped by Nadia. He could see his sons eyes rolling from here. Belle loved to ride, and Gideon loved to pretend he was a knight like his older brother. He might never have met Bae, but Rumplestiltskin had ensured they knew all about him.

Belle glared at him and he winced. The dagger was a sore point with her, she loathed it’s very existence and what it represented. Whomever held it could control his soul, and the very thought was anathema to her. _Nobody should control their fate but them_. With a quick move, Belle drew the dagger from the sheath she was carrying it in and held it out to him. Gently Rumplestiltskin took it, banishing it back to the vault where it belonged.

“I hope whatever it was, was worth it,” Belle said icily.

“Not really,” Rumplestiltskin admitted.

He’d satisfied his curiosity. He knew how and why the wish magic had come to lay upon their land, he had even made himself useful by promising to procure a magic bean so that they could return home. It was ironic that he had spent so many years searching for a bean, or something like it, so that he could cross realms and then he’d obtained one when he no longer needed it. However, he hadn’t found what he’d been hoping for, not that he’d even known what he’d been hoping for until he hadn’t found it.

The multiverse was vast, there were countless paths to take, and he had hoped to discover a world where his beloved Bae was happy. He would have settled for Bae’s family being happy, but in the world Emma had wished herself away from, she was just as lost as the Emma was here. The loss of a true love was hard to bear. Regina had been so torn up inside, she’d nearly torn up the land just so everyone else could feel her pain. Princess Emma had retreated to a fairytale, and it seemed Emma Swan was clinging to a pirate. Nobody was happy.

Rumplestiltskin wrapped his arms around Belle from behind, pulling her back against his chest. Belle tensed in his embrace, but she didn’t push him away. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “It’s unlikely to happen again.”

“Mama, papa!” Nadia called.

Belle smiled and waved. “Be right there.” She twisted in his arms, glaring fiercely at him. “I’m going to want a full explanation later.”

“Of course.” Rumplestiltskin nodded in agreement and Belle’s eyes softened.

“Ok then.” She dropped a quick kiss on his lips and squirmed to be released.

Rumplestiltskin tightened his grip and Belle arched an eyebrow at him and sighed theatrically, before pressing her lips against his. He hummed happily, feeling the spark of true love as the kiss deepened. In the distance he heard Gideon make a noise of disgust, which they both ignored. A minute later when Belle pulled away, to go and join their children, they were both smiling. His dagger might control his soul, but true loves kiss soothed the soul, bringing a level of peace and contentment he could scarcely believe existed. They were home.


End file.
